The Church Of Ireland
Press Release

Aim

We need to look at our common Christian faith in the context of contemporary Irish society in a fresh way. Debate about the relationship between faith and culture tends to know its conclusion before it begins; Fís admits that we do not have the visions we need at the moment and its aim is to pray and to learn in order to construct them.

The conference is unique because it is a joint venture between the Roman Catholic Church and the Church of Ireland. People from both communions have come together to talk about the issues that face them as baptised people of today s world, not to discuss the existing doctrines or structures of their respective churches. Working together to forge common visions, the contributors to Fís are taking ecumenism to a new level.

1 God

Christianity claims that God is incarnate , present in our world. What does it mean to speak of God s presence in our contemporary context? Where is God to be found here? One of the main images we use to speak about God is the idea that God is Trinity: three in one . Fís asks what understanding God as Trinity means in our situation. It also seeks to identify other ideas of God emerging from the intersection of faith and culture, and aims to use them to construct visions for Christianity in Ireland this new millennium.

2 Society

Fís will explore contemporary society to see what Christianity can learn from it, but the conference also asks what society can learn from Christianity. Remembering that Christianity s job was often to be a thorn in the side of the cultures in which it found itself, Fís asks what Christianity has to say that society needs to hear and, importantly, how it can be said in a way that will be heard.

3 Christianity

Our society is changing and so is the place of the Christian faith in it. The premise of the conference is that, in order to respond to these changes, Christianity needs to engage with them constructively. It is often said that Christianity is no longer relevant to today s world, but the fact that the majority of people still choose to be baptised, married and buried in the church implies that it still has meaning in people s lives. Exactly what that meaning is, is no longer certain, and Fís sets out to investigate this in a challenging and constructive way.

Science:  Faith and science are two different ways of looking at the world, traditionally seen as in opposition, but they can and should mutually inform each other

Ecology:  Religious discourse has for far too long neglected our intimate connection with our environment. Our vision must encompass the material world as well as spiritual things to be complete.

Psychology:  insights into the workings of our minds can increasingly provide illumination for our faith.

Society:  comprehending the development of secularism in our society-

Politics:  what should be the nature of the dialogue between faith and state - understanding the contemporary formative tensions and pressures within our faith which cross denominational boundaries

Irish culture:  Where we have come from determines to a great extent who we are now, and where we are going. We need to understand our own Irish context and local culture, from past to present:-

• the impact of Christianity on the earlier Celtic culture of this island, and insights available within it of relevance today.
• the concept of pilgrimage is a key to change and development, linking past and future in a dynamic way.
• social and economic factors of the present day seen through the eye of the Gospel.

The Media: are the neural pathways through which modern society thinks, the screens on which it envisions and creates itself; therefore it is essential to understand how they work, the values behind them, and how faith can be present in them.

Art and Music: God is often communicated best in non-verbal ways through art, poetry, drama, music, and story - all essential elements in human life.

Perhaps the most constructive work of the conference will be done in its liturgies. The event as a whole will be opened and concluded with imaginative and inclusive celebrations, and each day will begin and end with liturgies that foster the creative spirit of the conference.

Fís aims to learn from as wide a spectrum of opinion as possible and so will foster conversation between theologians and musicians, sociologists and artists, homemakers and psychologists, poets and scientists, clergy and laity, men and women, young and old, Protestant and Catholic.

For it to be effective, the conference must be accessible to all kinds of people, to anyone who feels they can learn from it and contribute to it. For this reason the key speakers are not going to give academic papers, but will stimulate discussion by reflecting on how their area of study and experience have informed their faith and vice versa. There will also be a range of events, from art exhibitions to children s workshops and concerts to try to involve as many people as possible in Fís.

The arts will be an integral part of the dialogue of the conference at the end of each day with the best of Ireland s traditional musicians and poets.

The conference will be held in the shadow of the Holy Mountain, Cruach Phádraig, in the town of Westport, Co Mayo, Understanding the event as a pilgrimage in itself, it is envisaged that this location will help us draw from our past to inform our future.

To encourage people from all backgrounds to attend, the organisers are seeking extensive financial sponsorship for the conference in order to keep the entrance fee to a minimum. The Anglican and Roman Catholic Churches have each pledged substantial amounts, and the National Millennium Committee donated £1,000. A further sum needs to be raised via personal and corporate donations and a campaign to meet this shortfall will be launched shortly by the Bishop of Tuam Killala and Achonry, and the Archbishop of Tuam. Given such support, it is hoped that individuals can attend the conference for a fee of £50 for the whole event or £5 for a single session, and concessionary fees will be available for the unwaged.

It is hoped that out of these conversations will come a renewed vision of God in our world and therefore of ourselves as God s witnesses here. To this end, Fís is only the starting point, the catalyst, of something potentially far more effective: visions of Christianity translated into wisdom and compassion in the world we live in.

Mar is léir, tá súileas againn, is é coincheap foscailte, fadtéarmach atá beartaithe anseo againn, agus chan ócáid don bhliain seo chugainn amháin. Ócáid idireaglasta chomh maith, ócáid a bhaineann le croílár ár gcomhthéacs creidimh féin, chan amháin i nÉirinn, ach ar fud iarthar an domhain. Tá muid ag dúil mar sin le daoine bheith ag freastal ar an chomhdháil seo as gach cearn den Eoraip agus as na Stáit Aontaithe fosta.

Wednesday night 8.00pm - Opening celebration

President Mary McAleese
Michael Neary, Archbishop of Tuam
Richard Henderson, Bishop of Tuam, Killala and Achonry

Thursday: Visions of God in Creation.

The Revd Dr John Polkinghorne: formerly President of Queen's College, Cambridge, and Cambridge Prof. of Mathematical Physics. Has been at the forefront of the science-religion debate.

Fr. Sean McDonagh, SSC Justice, Peace and the Integrity of Creation Coordinator for the Columban Missionaries

Fr. John O Donoghue, writer on spirituality, author of Anam Chara and Eternal Echoes

Thursday night:

Gerard Hughes SJ, writer on spiritual guidance, author of God of Surprises

Friday : Visions of God in Ireland

A speaker from CORI, to be confirmed.

The Revd Marcus Losack, writer and lecturer on Celtic Spirituality

Fr Frank Fahy, Administrator of Ballintubber Abbey, Co Mayo, author of several books on Irish spirituality

Fergal Keane: Special Correspondent with BBC, columnist with London Independent.

Friday night: God and the Media.

Lelia Doolin : Former head of Irish Film Board, leading figure in Irish Film Industry.

Patsy McGarry: Religious affairs correspondent, Irish Times

Muiris MacCongháil, Former Director of Programmes, RTÉ, media commentator, lecturer in Media Studies, Dublin Institute of Technology.

Lord David Putnam, CBE Oscar-winning producer of Chariots of Fire, The Killing Fields, Midnight Express, Local Hero and The Mission. Chairman of Columbia Pictures from 1986 to 1988, governor and lecturer at the London School of Economics.

Saturday: Diversity and Religion.

Donal Murray, Bishop of Limerick, author of Secularism and the New Europe.

The Revd Dr David Hewlett: Principal of SW Ministry Training Course, Church of England, Hon Fellow of University of Exeter, Practical Theologian.

Mike Garde, a Mennonite field worker for Dialogue Ireland working to promote awareness and understanding of new religious movements in Ireland.

Saturday night: The face of God in the Arts.

Dom Mark Patrick Hederman: Benedictine monk in Glenstall Abbey, Co Limerick. Leading authority on culture and theology.

Micheál Ó Súilleabháin, Professor of Music at Limerick University

Brian Fallon: writer on the Arts, former chief critic of the Irish Times.

Sunday: Concluding liturgies.

Every day: an integral part of the dialogue of the conference will take place at the end of the day, through enjoying the best of contemporary Irish traditional music and poetry.

The Rt. Revd Richard Henderson: took his doctorate in science before becoming ordained. He is currently Church of Ireland Bishop of Tuam, Killala and Achonry.

Fr Pat Ó Brien. Chaplain to Galway Mayo Inst. of Tech, Castlebar Campus, poet and writer

Fr Kevin Hegarty, Priest of Kilmore Erris, Editor of Céide, writer

The Revd Maureen Ryan, Auxiliary priest, psychologist, writer.

Ms Siobhán Garrigan, Student of theology

The Revd Canon Gary Hastings Rector of Westport, traditional musician.

Fr Pádraig O Connor, Parish priest of Mountbellew, Co Galway

Mr. Don Hall, Hon. PR.

Ms Ann Wilkie, Treasurer

Ms Bríd McAuley, Secretary